The partners are defining the term "growth" for AXN Growth Partners.
Not most of them.
Every one of them.
Annual revenue increases of 15% to 20% or more, in the 12 months after close, are occurring across the 11 acquisitions completed in just more than two years in Arizona.
Their work in Arizona is just the beginning. AXN Growth Partners has its sights set on Texas and adjacent states.
"We did a great job building a platform: About 10X'd it in just over two years in one state," says Brent Agee, AXN's CEO. "Now we're looking to say, 'We've built it. We have a strong team. We have structure. We have our dashboards. We've figured out how to integrate quickly. Let's take the success we had in Arizona and replicate it in new states.’"
Agee doesn't think those results are an accident. He thinks it's what happens when pest control operators run a pest control platform. His team is built that way by design.
"I am a pest professional first," Agee said. "A lot of the people on my team that make the day-to-day decisions, at one point, either serviced a route as a technician or have built a pest business from the ground up."
Agee didn't arrive at this business from a conference room. His father ran a pest control company before him. Agee worked as a technician, moved into sales, started his own pest business and eventually merged it with his parents' operation, ACTION Termite & Pest Control, allowing his parents the opportunity to step down. When private equity came calling, his first answer was "no."
"I told them to kick rocks, like most pest control operators do," he said.
What changed his mind was understanding the wealth-creation side of private equity; specifically, the ability to roll equity at the same share price as the investment firm. It was, as he said, a light-bulb moment that ultimately led to a partnership with Shore Capital. And it's something he thinks the industry still doesn't talk about enough.
That background shapes everything about how AXN operates. When Agee sits across the table from a founder weighing an exit, he isn't presenting just as a financial buyer. He's presenting as someone who has driven the truck, knocked on the doors, built the routes, and now has proven the ability to take businesses to the next level.
That message lands differently with sellers who have spent decades building something.
"A little bit of it is their legacy," Agee said. "They want to make sure that their team members who have been with them for 20 years and helped them create millions of dollars in wealth for themselves are going to be taken care of post-transaction."
Most of the principals who have sold to AXN have stayed on in some operating capacity. Some run their brands. Some sit on advisory calls. Some walk newly acquired teams through the transition from the inside. Ultimately, first-hand guidance and advice from a founder who's already been through it is more credible than any town hall Agee could run himself.
AXN started in Arizona and stayed there deliberately to maximize synergies and value creation. Agee had talked to enough successful platform CEOs ahead of launching to understand what winning looks like, and almost every one of them gave a similar answer: "Don't celebrate the deal, celebrate what the business becomes after the deal."
They stressed that too many organizations devote tremendous energy to buying companies but far less to integrating them, developing their people, and executing a consistent operating model.
"Anyone can buy a business,” he said. “Building an integrated platform that improves margins, accelerates organic growth, and creates opportunities for employees, that's where the value is created."
The AXN model allows founders who want to stay on and continue growing their brands with the added resources of not just capital but with a COO, CFO, and CRO, so founders can stop wearing every hat and start focusing on what they do best.
AXN also layers in its sales and marketing systems, the same ones that made Agee's ACTION Termite & Pest Control the No. 1 company on Google and Urban Desert Pest Control the No. 1 pest company on Yelp in Arizona. Another big contributor to out-of-the-gates performance for AXN brands is they move every acquired company onto FieldRoutes software, typically within 90 days of close.
The goal is a common language: shared KPIs, live dashboards, and the kind of visibility that lets an operator in Texas and an operator in Phoenix jump on a call and immediately understand each other. And when the systems are unified and the infrastructure is in place, the benefits flow to the people doing the work, not just the balance sheet.
"I'm incredibly proud of the retention we've seen across our acquisitions and partnerships,” Agee said. “More importantly, I'm proud of the individuals who have grown alongside the platform, stepping into new leadership roles and taking on greater responsibility. One of the greatest benefits of growth isn't simply building a larger company, it's creating opportunities for our team members to build meaningful careers."
Consolidation within the pest control industry continues to accelerate, creating more opportunities than ever for founders considering an exit. But not all private equity firms or platforms operate the same way.
Founders should take the time to perform their own due diligence, understand a platform's long-term vision, speak with existing partners, and ensure they're choosing a business partner whose values, operating philosophy, and commitment to people align with their own.
"The transaction doesn't have to be the end,” Agee said. “The partnership and investment opportunity is where more consideration needs to be given. That's why I encourage every founder to do as much diligence on the platform as the platform is doing on them."
